1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to manufacturing and, in particular, to materials used in manufacturing. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to an automated system and method for smoothing wrinkled material used in manufacturing.
2. Background
Layers of material are used for various applications. For example, without limitation, layers of material may be used to form structures, seal openings, rework surfaces, or for some other suitable purpose.
In some instances, two or more layers of material may be positioned relative to one another and joined together. For example, the layers of material may be cured, bonded, fastened, or attached to one another to form a structure. These layers of material may take the form of sheets.
A sheet of material may have various thicknesses, depending on the type and use of the material. For instance, a sheet of material may have a thickness ranging from about a fraction of a nanometer to a centimeter or more.
When working with sheets of material, eliminating wrinkles and folds is desirable. These wrinkles may inhibit bonding, predispose the material to tearing, or otherwise cause more inconsistencies than desired during use of the sheet. For example, if a sheet of material is not substantially smooth, a structure formed from the sheet of material may be formed with out of tolerance voids, porosity, or other inconsistencies. As another example, when reworking a surface, a wrinkled sheet of material may result in poor adhesion to the surface.
To reduce the risk of inconsistencies, a sheet of material may be smoothed prior to being used for its intended purpose. Some existing solutions require human operators to manually smooth each sheet of material. Oftentimes, these human operators smooth each sheet of material using their hands or handheld tools. This process takes countless labor hours to complete.
In addition, the human operators must be highly trained to smooth the sheet of material without tearing or otherwise altering the structural properties of the material. Finding highly skilled human operators may be more difficult and time-consuming than desired. Consequently, manufacturing processes using the material may cost more than desired. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that take into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues. Specifically, it is desirable to find a method and apparatus to more quickly smooth wrinkled material.